The Legendary Spider-Man
by Meinos Kaen
Summary: Peter Parker is twenty, one of the most brilliant up and coming scientists of the Mida, and son of the biggest disgrace in the history of the explorer ship. But a sudden discovery linked to the incident where both his parents lost their lives and an ancient civilisation will shed some light on that day and start him on the path of legend, as the new protector of the galaxy.
1. Episode 1

**Year 3025 AD**

The energetic crisis forced humanity to look at the stars for their future. Those nations that so willed looked behind their differences and united in the _Human Space Program_. In **2925**, twenty great space ships of the _Cradle_ Class left Earth, headed towards twenty different identified planets with conditions able to sustain human life.

One hundred years later, three of those ships have settled on planets devoid of intelligent life. Five now share their intended destination with alien cultures. Four have taken theirs with the strength of arms. Three others have become their own destinations, expanding into sprawling space stations. Of the other five, nothing is known, lost in the sprawling cosmos.

Among the second group of Cradles, the ship **Mida** has been turned into a space exploring vessel, tasked with mapping the galaxy and re-establish physical contact with the other ships. This is the story of one of its crew members...

_Prologue_

"Come on, Ben!" The two men quickened their pace, pushing their already weary bodies past what should have been their limits. With injuries like those, the uneven terrain and the time they had been going at full sprint for, they should have already collapsed.

But the inhuman screech coming from the darkness deep in the rocky tunnel managed to make them break those limits, at least long enough to reach the entrance again. "Come on... Richard... We have to-Have to tell..."

"No, Ben." Richard suddenly stopped at the mouth of the cave, much to the shock and horror of his older brother. "We cannot. This has to stay a secret." Another screech chilled Ben's spine and made the younger brother grimace. "What we found is... It's too dangerous. Our research was incomplete. We went in cock-sure, and... This is the result." Richard clenched his hands hard, in grim thought. The next screech woke him up again. His eyes were now determined and focused. "Everything that's happened here today must remain a secret. We found nothing. There was a cave in and the whole team died." His lips morphed in a sad smile. "Everyone but you, Ben."

"... Richard, what are you-!" Ben jerked at the sudden motion from his younger brother, but managed to catch the object thrown at him. His eyes widened as he realized what it was. "Richard, this-Oof!"

"Goodbye, Ben." Richard said as his older brother flew away from the strength of his kick, before planting the charge he had managed to grab from his wife's backpack. As it went live, the screech transformed into a roar as an amorphous shadow appeared on the far wall of the tunnel. "Please take care of Peter." The younger brother then turned around and started running in the direction they had just come from, straight at the monstrosity they had been running from.

"R-Richard, no!" Ben shouted while the light and beeping noise of the charge increased in intensity and volume. "RICH-"

-P-

"R-Ri-Rich... Ard...!"

"Ben, wake up!" Ben Parker gasped as he shot up to a sitting position in his bed, a layer of cold sweat covering his whole body, his breath ragged. A soft but firm hand was holding his left shoulder, keeping him steady. "You've had that same dream again."

"... I wish it was a dream, May."

"What?" The grey-haired woman said, confused.

"Nothing." Ben turned around with the excuse of reaching for his glasses and tie, to bind his long hair back in a pony-tail. The haze of sleep had almost made him forget. Forget about keeping his secret. The secret he had kept from his wife, from everyone. The secret that shamed Richard's memory. The secret that had saved them all.

"You always get like this when the anniversary of his death comes around." The short haired woman sighed, hugging her husband of thirty years around the waist. "Eighteen years and you still haven't come to peace with it."

"I'd have an easier time if half of the Mida didn't dishonor my little brother's memory." _'Stupid bastards. If they only knew.'_ Then, again, he couldn't fault them. Not with the report they had been given about that mission. The report he had given himself. "... What time is it? Did I wake you?"

"Yes, but the clock was set to wake us up about-"

"_Good morning, Lab Head May Parker and Major Benjamin Parker."_ An electronic voice and a white light filled the room while the pristine white walls raised, revealing the expanse of space through transparent, glass-like material. _"The time is 7:30 AM, Old Earth Time. Your personal schedules have been updated to your personal communicators. Have a nice and productive day."_

"... Remind me again why the computer always calls your name first?" Ben asked, a trace of humor surfacing in his tone.

"Because as Lab-Head I out-rank you, my bespectacled Major." With a chuckle, May planted a sweet kiss on the man's left cheek. "Come on. Field operations are not going to plan themselves."

"Hmm, you sure we can't be late, say... Twenty minutes?" He turned around in her embrace, a mischievous look in his eyes as he observed his wife's purple irises, which even after thirty years, still held that same fire and that something that always managed to make him-

"Don't you even _think_ about it, you two!" A shrill voice resounded from the other side of the room's door, making both spouses roll their eyes. "Do I need to remind you these walls are awfully_ thin_?"

"Just turn on the sound-proofing, Peter!" May said, grabbing tight around Ben's neck and pulling him down for a kiss.

"Nonono. That's not how it works." The door opened, revealing a lanky teen with messy brown hair wearing blue pajamas. "As a cohabiting teen figure, I'm obliged to find each and every way to not let you old people have sex while I'm in a range of half a mile."

"And you're damn good at it, you miscreant." Ben said as he turned to face his nephew. "And who are you calling_ old_?"

"The average human now lives to a ripe age of 130 years old, so you two don't exactly fit the definition with your shared 120..." Peter grabbed his chin, assuming a thoughtful pose, and then a large grin. "But I'm also supposed to be calling you that. It's in the job description."

"Alright, Peter. We won't have any morning quickies." May sighed as she sat up as well. "Now, unless you'd like to see us shower and change..."

"_EEEEW!_ Where's the brain-bleach?!" The twenty years old ran out of the room, eyes shut and tugging at his hair, hoping to strip away the mental images along with it. The elder Parkers laughed at his misfortune, May enjoying the little payback.

"He's a good kid." Ben said. May nodded.

"Yeah. I just wish he wasn't so_ nosy_." The man sighed. In more ways than one.

**Marvel in Space**

**The Legendary Spider-Man**

Episode 1 - With Great Knowledge

"Good morning, May. Peter."

"Good morning, miss Osborn." Peter greeted back with a wave as the couple of aunt and nephew joined their colleagues in the lab.

"Good morning, Amanda." May said, saluting her colleague more informally than her nephew. "How are Norman and Harry?"

"Just fine, thank you. Our resident Chief Lab Head is getting further and further engrossed into his research, and my air-headed son is well on his way to become another weapon-toting goon." The brunette sighed, holding her head. May rolled her eyes.

"Amanda, you know the rules. No tirades on the need for weapons in this age on the job." Peter made himself scarce and walked to his personal work station. Amanda was a nice woman, but a bit over-bearing. He removed his satchel and put it on the desk, before retrieving his lab-coat from the nearby hanger.

He turned on his terminal, sorting through the messages and the jobs for the day. He had two experiments scheduled with two senior lab members for the morning. One more for the afternoon._ 'If we manage to conclude the morning ones early, I could cut in some time to work on my pr-'_ "Ooff!"

"Hey, Pete! Love-mails are so last year!" An obnoxious voice resounded in his ears while someone body-slammed him into his desk. He groaned, but smiled. The voice and the affectionate 'Pete' meant Harry Osborn. The only person who could get away with something like that without... Well, his resentment. He turned around, his own blue eyes meeting green and brown hair darker than his own. "You'll need to do better than that to impress your dear-"

"Shut the hell up, will _you_?!" He whispered, breaking out of the headlock and slapping a hand over his friend's mouth. "Walls have ears!"

"Aw, come on. What's the worst that could happen? Rejection? Public humiliation?" Harry said, lips breaking between ring finger and pinky.

"The first. The latter is only a long string of memories from Secondary School now, thank god." He sighed, releasing his friend. Yes, Flash Thompson and his other cronies would have had a field day with his one-sided infatuation. Again. "So, I prefer letting my secret crush fester under a pile of fear and unattractive body features."

"Told ya you should have entered the Field Operation team. Look at this!" Harry flexed his right bicep, his black and orange skin-tight body suit showing off the taut muscle. "Peak body shape in six months. My old man's special conditioning works wonders!"

"Nice for you, but, isn't that kind of _cheating_?" Peter said with a raised eyebrow. Harry groaned.

"_Everyone_ cheats, Peter. At life. And, hey." Harry lowered his head, starting a conjuring whispering with his friend. "If a little cheating is what it takes to break the status of social pariah, bring it on."

"Hmm... I wish I could be as easy-going as you are, Harry."

"And I wish I could have half of your brains." Harry grinned and patted his friend on the right shoulder. They'd found each other when no one else would have them. Harry, the mentally ungifted son of the Chief Head Lab. Peter, the son of the biggest disgrace in the history of Mida as an explorer ship. "Are you by any chance assigned to Recalls, today?"

"Nah. We're tackling those two new elements we picked up on Argos-5." Peter shook his head. "Testing them for everything, you know. Durability, flexibility. We may have some new toys for you Field Ops very soon."

"You can be my secret Santa any time, Peter!" With one last pat on his friend's shoulders, Harry turned around and waved as he walked away. "I'll see you at lunch!"

"Okay." Peter smiled as he watched Harry go before focusing on his duties again. He had thirty minutes to prepare himself for the first experiment.

He would be done in twenty.

-I-

Ben rapped his fingers against the table again, trying to find something new and interesting into the files of his trainees, which he had already gone through twice in the past few days._ 'What's taking Jameson so long?' _The Overseer of Mida was rough, sometimes overbearing, but he was a professional and he hated making people wait just as much as he hated waiting. "Robbie, where's Jameson?"

"I don't know, Ben." The Commander General of Field Operations shook his head, ebon skin twitching as he frowned. "It's not like him. He's probably been held up."

"By what, I wonder." Norman Osborn cut in, his right hand squeezing at air, his annoyance clear in his body language. "This is pointless. We all have tasks that await completion."

"Like the next step in the Conditioning Program, right, Norman?" Ben said, earning the scientist's attention. He chuckled. "I swear, that's all the trainees seem to be talking about, recently."

"Hmph. I bet." The Chief Lab Head allowed himself a small smile. The Conditioning Program was the reason why Norman had been appointed his title on the Mida, and great things were expected from its evolution. "... How is Harry doing?"

"Very well. He's my top trainee." Ben answered with a smile. Harry had taken to the Conditioning and his training perfectly. "He's been working harder than any of the others, and it shows. I have half a mind of having him be my second in command during the next field operation."

"Really, now." Norman observed, his face impassive.

"He's putting his heart and then some in it. Almost like he wants to prove himself." The grey haired major continued, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I wonder to who." Any further debate was cancelled when the door opened, and a familiar mustache appeared, followed close behind by a woman with black hair holding a pad.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for my delay to the meeting I scheduled." J. Jonah Jameson said as he took his seat at the figurative head of the large round table. "It couldn't be helped, though."

"What was the hold-up, Jonah?" Robbie asked, the only one in the room with enough familiarity with the man to refer to him by his given name.

"I had a brief altercation with the honchos back on Helios." Jameson explained. "They weren't exactly set on my proposal of today." He then turned to the woman who had come inside with him, who had already grabbed the remote which controlled the room's projector. "Miss Brant, if you'd please."

"Yes, mister Jameson-I mean, Overseer." Betty Brant bit on her lower lip for the slip. Professional deformation. She had been Jameson's secretary for four years before he had been nominated Overseer of the Mida. She lowered the lights and a blue projection of a planet appeared in the middle of the table, with all its topographic lines. "This is our next destination, the Sixth Planet of the Argos system. The only one in it able to sustain human life."

Suddenly, a projection of the Mida appeared, hovering above the planet surface. Three smaller projections in the shape of ovals detached themselves from it and travelled to the planet. "Five days ago we dispatched the ship's sentry drones to make the routine reveals. They came back in two days ago, and tonight the Tech Team finished downloading and decoding the data."

The Mida disappeared, the planet shrunk and a series of diagrams, values and numbers suddenly appeared to surround it. "The air is breathable. The planet is rich in wild but with no sentient life, but we've found traces of a past civilization, dating back to circa 700 years ago." Ben suddenly tensed at the mention of that exact amount of time, and even more as the projection acquired more colors than just shades of azure to project pictures took by the drones. A ruin, which architecture was drudgingly familiar to the major. "The ruins we found are compatible with other constructions of the Shuu-Pa race."

"... But this planet wasn't on the chart provided to us by the Gunri." Norman's eyebrows shot up ever so slightly. "Another uncharted planet. Just like eighteen years ago."

"Yes, Chief Lab Head Osborn. Just like on Falcon 3, the Shuu-Pa's settlement amounts to a small village in a temperate zone of the planet. And just like on Falcon 3..." The photo reel disappeared, leaving place to a map of what resembled a multi-level dungeon under the surface of the planet. "The drones have detected a large underground structure, sprawling underneath the settlement."

"... God almighty." Ben clenched his fists, whispering out the exclamation despite himself._ 'Not another one.'_ He clenched further, trying to repress memories of that day. Memories of teeth, blood and death. The death of good women and men, among which...

"You all know that I made no mystery that I never shared the common opinion that Richard Parker was a nut-job." Jameson continued as the tridimensional map continued slowly rotating on itself. "My own son was on that mission, and any man, any cause he believed in that much, I believe. I believe that you can't blame the man for the outcome."

"... Richard is mostly blamed because he believed investigating Falcon 3 would lead us to uncover the mystery behind the Shuu-Pa's sudden galaxy-wide extinction." Ben interjected, his voice level despite himself. "While we found nothing. Only empty ruins, with no useful hint-"

"Bullcrap. You've declared yourself that you couldn't explore the place in full before everything came crumbling down on your heads, Parker." Jonah continued. Any other occasion, he would have shaken his hand. Right now, he blamed his stubbornness. "I say it's high time we prove that my son and your brother didn't die for nothing."

"Did Helios give us green light?" Robbie asked.

"You know me, Robbie!" Jonah grinned, and wished he could have one of his cigars on hand at the moment. Damn space-travel regulations. "This time we take no chances. I want the best men we have on this, both for science and protection detail. Parker, I want you leading the operation."

"Overseer-"

"That's an _order_, Parker. Seriously, what's wrong with you? I thought you'd be jumping at the opportunity to clear your brother's name." He clenched his hands into fists again. Yes, he should. There was no logical reason for him not to be excited at the prospect. Not without arousing suspicion. Not without having to _explain_. Not without having to tell them what they found. Norman was already staring. Smart, observing bastard.

"... I just wanted to know if there was someone in particular you'd like to recommend for the mission." Ben let out, and Jameson just shrugged his shoulders.

"Hell if I know. I give the orders, but you're the ones who know your men. Do _you_ have any recommendations? Ben?" He turned his gaze to the reddish haired scientist. "Norman?"

"Well, to keep it in the family, I'd recommend young Peter Parker on the mission." Ben's eyes widened and he stood up in outrage.

"Stop screwing around, Norman! This isn't a game!" He shouted, unable to control himself anymore. "Peter is not suited for field operations, _especially_ this particular one!"

"True. He may lack in... Physique, for field operations, but the efforts he's put into continuing his parents' research into the Shuu-Pa's culture make him the perfect candidate for..." Norman trailed off as he noticed the shock on Ben's face at his words. He smirked. "You didn't know."

"Peter has been_ what_?!"

"Ever since Secondary School, I believe. I only discovered it because he works on it on his personal lab terminal, in his free time. It hasn't impacted his work output in the Lab. Incredible." Norman's smirk grew wider. "It seems that you're not aware of the full extent of your nephew's genius, are you?"

"And you are, Norman?" Norman shrugged his shoulders at Ben's question, rotating in his chair.

"I'm at least aware of the potential my most promising scientist possesses." The man said, joining his hands in front of his face. "I see much of Richard in him. He really _is_ his father's son."

"... True." Ben internally cursed himself for not paying more attention._ 'Why did I believe that Peter's interest would have stopped at the questions he asked me?'_

"Well, seems like we have a candidate to lead the Science Team on the field." Jameson said, getting up from his chair. "I leave you charte blanche, gentlemen. Bring me results. And maybe a live Shuu-Pa, if you're able!"

-I-

"... Yes." Peter silently cheered, punching the air in victory as the latest algorithm did his job. It had taken him seven months, but now he had done it. _'I'm one step closer, dad. One-'_

"Peter." Yelping, Peter instinctively shifted to desktop and turned around in his chair, heart threatening to burst out of his chest.

"U-Uncle Ben!" The young scientist groaned, removing his glasses as he held the bridge of his nose. "You scared the crap out of me." He lamented, before noticing the expression on his uncle's face. He replaced his glasses and stared, bemused. "Is there something wrong?"

"You tell me, Peter. How's your _research_ going?" The older man said, further puzzling Peter. Then, realization downed on him. "We need to talk. In private." The young man bit on his lower lip. There was no way out of that chew-out, was there?

-I-

"Peter, how could you?" Ben began, with a classic opener when it came to guilt trips. They had moved to their private quarters for it. "Continuing your father's research. And without telling me."

"I'm sorry, but, I knew you wouldn't agree with it, uncle Ben. That's why I had to go behind your back with it." Peter confessed, ashamed. He held no pride in what he he had had to do, especially hiding things from the man who had been taking care of him for nearly all his life. "You speak fondly of dad and mom, but whenever I asked you about their research, you always curled up."

"It's because of that research if your parents and other good men and women lost their lives. When you stopped asking, I was relieved. Never would I have imagined..." Ben sighed, his turn to hold the bridge of his nose. "How did you even find a back-up? You don't have that kind of clearance." He settled his inquiring gaze on a hesitating Peter. "Peter, please tell me you didn't-"

"Hack in? No. It's just... This is another little something that I never told you." Sighing in defeat, Peter zipped down the front of his suit and fished out his necklace. "It was thanks to this." Ben observed the object, recognizing it immediately. The blue stone with a red web motif, not bigger than a pebble, finely polished and perfectly conserved even while being more than one thousand years old.

"The Shuu-Pa stone." Ben said. The object Richard had entrusted to him before his death, his wife's family heirloom which Ben had then entrusted to Peter when he was a child. "What about it?"

"This isn't just a stone." Peter removed the necklace from his neck and then held it like one would a small remote. A small click echoed in the room, and the web motif shone with ruby light. A small part on the smaller end of the stone suddenly opened, and out shot what looked like a black thorn. "This is a data storage unit."

"A data-!" Now he understood. Why Richard had given him the object. "Richard had a back-up of his whole research on it?"

"Yes. I found out three years ago, shortly before I graduated from Secondary School. And then... I knew, uncle Ben." Peter continued, his eyes shining with determination. That same fire that he had seen so many times in Richard. "You said that my father gave you this. With his last dying words."

"Y-Yes. He did." Ben murmured, remembering his lies. But still, he understood what Peter was saying. He couldn't help but come to his same conclusion, now.

"He wanted someone-No. He wanted _me_ to continue his research. To succeed where he had failed. A-And, uncle Ben, I just made a _breakthrough_!" The man's was taken back by his nephew's sudden bout of enthusiasm. He couldn't help but ask...

"What did you discover?" Peter was surprised, but he grinned right after.

"I deciphered the Shuu-Pa language." He declared, and Ben couldn't help but widen his eyes in disbelief. "It took me seven months, but-"

"Seven _months_? Peter, your parents couldn't do it in seven _**years**_, working together!" He raised his voice, but he couldn't help it. The idea sounded ludicrous to his ears.

"And, I think that was the problem." Peter continued, which only served to make Ben more confused. "Dad was a historian, an archeologist, and mom was a biologist. He studied the lore, she studied the ancestry of the Shuu-Pa. But as close as they were, they couldn't really, you know, think as each other. But, as you may know, I minored in both." The young man said with a wink. "Mom had a theory that Shuu-Pa could see things in different spectrums, remember?"

"Yes." Peter's grin got even wider.

"Well, it was true. And that was the point!" Peter threw his hands in the air. "Dad had managed to decipher their grammar, but what he didn't get was that the Shuu-Pa read things differently depending on the spectrum of light they used!"

"... That's why they used different inks in the same inscriptions." Ben remembered that it was one of the thing that had puzzled Richard. He had ultimately chalked it up to artistic preference. "And you say you've deciphered it?"

"I've created an algorithm which can be uploaded to any Analysis Device and translate any inscriptions we may come across automatically. I've just verified it, and..." Ben trailed off with his thoughts as Peter continued talking, ecstatic. So happy that he had succeeded, that he had some point of contact with his parents that it wasn't his last name only any more.

After Richard's death, Peter had it really tough. He was only two years old, and growing up his peers spared no occasion to give him crap about his supposed disgrace of a father. A man who threw away his life and those of his wife and other good men for nothing, a pipe-dream. Following an insolvable mystery with carelessness. This translated into social isolation as he grew up, which didn't exactly help when coupled with his average physical attributes and high intelligence.

Now he had a chance to make all those years worthwhile and to clear his parents' name. A shot. Ben still had reserves, remembering what had transpired on Falcon 3, but if Richard had entrusted all his research to his family, it meant that he wanted someone to continue it for a reason. _'But what reason?'_ Then again, there was the situation on Argos Six. If what awaited them there was anything like what they had found eighteen years ago, Peter's research was their best bet to avoid more deaths. _'I can't divulge what happened there, or someone will want to go back. I can't allow that.'_ There was no chance, now. He couldn't avoid it, he might as well try to control it. "... Peter, listen." The young Parker stopped his speech about his discovery, focusing on his uncle again. "At this morning's meeting, we discussed our next destination, Argos 6. They found a Shuu-Pa settlement on it, with a structure similar to the one your father had found eighteen years ago."

"What?! For real?!" Ben nodded.

"Yes. And it's been decided that you're going to lead the science team on the field. Norman Osborn nominated you. He knew about your research. You might want to think about a more secure password." Peter's eyes widened, his surprise evident. The Chief Lab Head had personally asked for him to lead a field operation? "He's right. You're the most qualified person on this ship for the operation, and I'm going to be there as well, _but_. I want you to be careful. More than careful. I want you to be _paranoid_."

"I know, I know. Field operations are dangerous."

"It's more than that. It's... I just don't want you to..." Should he tell him the truth? No, not yet. But, he had to give him a warning. To let him understand that this wasn't just a 'dangerous' mission. "... Peter, I believe that that cave-in wasn't an accident." Peter perked up at that. "I think the ruins were booby trapped."

"Wait. You mean the Shuu-Pa rigged them to come crashing on top of people?" Ben nodded, and his nephew reacted with shock as he absorbed the new information. "Why would they... Unless... They didn't want anyone to have access to the ruins?"

"Yes." Ben continued, and Peter continued to think. The Shuu-Pa were a race that had taken residence on many planets of the galaxy, and they were its self-appointed peace keepers. Tales of the humanoid race and its powerful warriors solving many a crisis remained in the lore of many alien cultures. All of a sudden though, 600 hundred years before the Mida reached the planet of the Gunri, the race disappeared all over the galaxy without leaving a trace, leaving behind ruins devoid of any life. Not even their bodies were ever found.

"Maybe... Maybe whatever is in the ruins could shed some light on what caused the Shuu-Pa to go extinct."

"Or maybe it _is_ what caused them to go extinct." Peter swallowed but nodded. There also was that possibility. "... So, paranoid?"

"Paranoid indeed."

-I-

"... Fascinating." Norman commented as he cut off the feed from the camera which had allowed him to observe the little family exchange. It confirmed to him that, indeed, young Peter Parker was an up and coming genius. A few more years of experience, and he would be worthy of being his second in command. Together, they would advance in months projects that would take lesser men years.

Also, it had given him some really interesting prospectives. It seemed like Benjamin Parker hadn't disclosed everything that had happened on that fateful day. The theory that what laid in the ruins could have something to do with the Shuu-Pa's extinction had merit. "... Maybe I should join this mission, after all." _'Whatever it was, it wiped out a race famed as semi-gods. That kind of power...'_

-I-

"Front and center, boys!" Ben Parker shouted, and the seven soldiers under his command arranged themselves in a line, standing in front of him, rifle strapped over the left shoulder, helmet held tightly under the right arm, feet joined, black armor covering the black and orange skin-tight suit in strategic places. "I want you to listen and listen well! You're some of the best of my unit! My two top trainees-" He made his glance pass over Harry Osborn and the buff, very short trimmed blonde man standing on his side. Flash Thompson, the jock beaten out of him by Ben's training. "And five of my best veterans. But that's only in training! None of you have ever seen real action! We've been lucky enough to never have to pull a trigger once in the past two years, since the Mida deployed again!"

"First time you see your uncle in this light, young Peter?" Norman chuckled as he observed Peter's face as Ben turned into the drill sergeant from hell.

"Well, yeah. It's like looking at someone else wearing his body." Peter commented, giving a glance to the other two members of the science team which Norman had selected for the mission. A geologist and a biologist. "Sir, are you sure you want me to lead the mission? Since you've decided to join us-"

"True. I've decided to join this mission. But I could never take this moment from you. The culmination of your father's vision. Of your research." Norman cut him off while Ben continued his speech, highlighting how there was a risk that they could be forced to pull those triggers during this mission with unknown variables. "Also, that same research makes you more competent that even me on the subject of the Shuu-Pa."

"... Thanks, sir." Peter smiled, now beaming. That was the biggest compliment one could ever receive from Norman Osborn.

"And now, before we board the Skip which will bring us to the surface of Argos 6, you'll be briefed on the mission by the leader of the science team." Ben finished, then turned in his direction. Peter almost jumped out of his skin. "Mister Parker, if you'd please."

"Y-Yes!" He replied, a bit too enthusiastically. He quickly, awkwardly, made his way to his uncle's side. He found himself facing the aligned soldiers. _'Damn, uncle Ben must have magical powers. Flash's only reaction is a raised eyebrow.'_ He cleared his voice. "G-Good day. I'm Peter Parker and, uhm, I'm going to lead the science team on this mission. As you know, we're going to investigate an abandoned Shuu-Pa settlement. And, as major Parker just evidenced, we have no idea what we will find in there. What we do know, though, is that the Shuu-Pa neglected registering this planet on any official star-map. I think that's because there's something on it that they didn't want anyone to find. It could be the secret to their mythic invincibility... But, it could also be the cause of their disappearance. Anything is possible."

Peter expected questions, observations, but nothing came his way. Perfect discipline. Even if Flash's scrunched up face told him that he wanted to say something. He held up his wrist, exposing his Ambient Analysis Device strapped around his right forearm. "But, unlike in the past, we have an advantage. After long months of studying, I've managed to develop a program that will let us decipher the Shuu-Pa language. I'm uploading it to your suits and AADs right now." With the simple push of a button and a chime, the upload started. This time, everyone held up their own arms to check the success of the operation.

"The Shuu-Pa read their languages in different way depending on the spectrum of light they were seeing in. An inscription could have more than one meaning, at times, so please be sure to check with each mode of the program whenever you find an inscription and always report your findings to a member of the science team." Peter lowered his arm, the upload finished. "This mission has many unknown incognitas and danger could wait for us in the depths of those ruins but I firmly believe that if we are careful-no, paranoid-" He sent a smile his uncle's way at that. He answered with a nod. "We can successfully complete this mission, and finally shed some light on one of the greatest mysteries of the galaxy. I look forward to working with you all."

"Thanks, mister Parker." Ben took over again, and Peter didn't miss the grin and wink Harry sent his way. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen. The Skip awaits. Let's move!" The Field Ops quickly fell into line and hurried to the opening ship, crossing the expanse of the docking area, the science team quickly behind them. Peter and Ben were about to follow...

"Hey, Parkers." When they were interrupted by a very familiar voice. They turned in unison to find May Parker holding out a stack of two rectangular containers. "I think you forgot your lunch."

"We did?" Peter inquired, and searched his strapped bag. Indeed, there were drinks and energy bars, but no complete lunch. Ben's own search had a similar outcome. "Yep, we did."

"Thanks, May." Ben collected the containers from his wife, thanking her with a kiss.

"Be careful out there, okay?" She said, before turning to her nephew and catching him in a big hug. "That goes double for you, young man."

"Of course, aunt May." Peter returned the hug then pulled back and gave her a big grin. "Don't worry. I'll make you proud." The two male Parkers said their goodbyes and followed their companions to the awaiting space-ship, a worried woman watching them go.

-I-

"So, these guys could see like us, in night-vision and even infra-red? That's wicked!"

"Pretty convenient, huh? There were few places where their vision was naturally impaired." Peter explained to Harry as the Skip made his way through the planet's atmosphere with little trouble. "And that's the only thing we know for sure about their physiology. They never allowed anyone to study it."

"I guess they wanted the exclusive on the superpowers." Flash added his two cents, earning his two peers' attention. "Wonder if all those tales are true or... I mean, they say that some of them could fly without wings and breath fire."

"Maybe. We don't know. We can just hope we'll find some answers in the ruins." The Skip suddenly rustled. They had crossed another stratus of the atmosphere.

"Landing in five minutes!" The pilot said, and all the occupant of the Skip strapped themselves in.

"Alright! Remember! Stay together, don't break up unless strictly necessary and never in groups of less than three!" Ben shouted out his orders before placing his full helmet on, Flash and Harry mimicking him right after. For his part, Peter replaced his glasses with a visor covering only his eyes which at the moment were giving him a visual from the front of the Skip. The jungle and the constructions that made up the ruins were coming closer and closer.

-I-

"Gogogogogo!" Flash and one of the veteran soldiers took point, being the first ones out of the ship, Ben and Harry right behind them as they observed their surroundings, a large number of constructions of stone and metal in shades of white and blue littering uneven ground, now sparsely covered in the jungle's overgrowth. "Clear!"

That was the signal. The remaining soldiers and the science team descended from the Skip, slowly. Norman was the last, observing something on his visor as the AAD sent information to his visor. "No signs of intelligent life in the proximities. The readings we got from the Mida's drones were correct. It's abandoned."

"Alright. What's the next step, science leader?" It took Peter a few seconds to understand that Ben was talking to him.

"A-Ah. Yes. Well, we should make a full survey of the surroundings. Check for artifacts, data banks, inscriptions." Peter explained, passing over the whole team with his eyes. "And, the entrance for the underground structure." He stopped on Ben. "Uncle Ben, what... I mean, is this place...?"

"... Yes. It's very similar to the one we found on Falcon 3." Ben nodded, shouldering his rifle again. "Some of the buildings are identical as well. If the entrance is the same way, we should be looking for a pyramidal shaped building with an oval entrance, decorated with various inscriptions around the door, with a diameter of about five meters."

"Huuu, like that one?" Flash's words made everyone turn to him and then to the building he was pointing at with his rifle.

"... Yes, just like that one." Ben said, laying eyes on the pyramidal building laying twenty meters or so away from them, almost at the edge of the complex, with an oval entrance sealed shut. The group slowly made their way to it, circling the outside.

"Weird." The geologist in the science team observed as he passed a hand over the wall, finding it dirty but... "There's no trace of overgrowth on this one." He then looked at under his feet. Nothing but dirt around it as well. "There's no plant life in the immediate vicinities of this structure."

"Wait." Norman brought up his right arm, operating a very specific scanning mode with his AAD. His eyebrows raised. "This structure still has power."

"What?!" The biologist let out, incredulous. "After more than 700 hundred years?! What kind of power source lasts that long unchecked?!"

"Calm down. The energy readings are abysmally small. It's in standby, for lack of a better term. That's why it lasted so long and also why the drones couldn't detect it." Norman explained as he approached the door. "Ben, was this also the case on Falcon 3?"

"No." Ben answered, remembering how they had to use a charge to open the door to the twin structure. "The structure was in a state of advanced decay, and there was no power in it whatsoever."

"... Let me check this." Peter activated the translating program, scanning each and everyone of the symbols that formed the inscription around the oval door. In under a minute, he had a list of possible translations. The only one with a sense was... "Special Containment Facility 7."

"Special Containment?"

"Number 7?" Peter ignored Harry's and another soldier's voices, his brain going into overdrive.

"... Okay. I think I got it." Peter turned to the others, raising his visors. "This is still only an hypothesis, but... I think I understand what happened to the Shuu-Pa."

"Just like that? From an inscription?!" Flash voiced his disbelief openly. Peter ignored it.

"The Shuu-Pa didn't just go extinct. They _decided to disappear_." The young scientist continued, earning a nod from Norman.

"To protect the location of the planets where they built these 'Special Containment Facilities'." The reddish haired man said, rubbing at his chin. "That's also the reason why they chose planets devoid of intelligent life to build them. They didn't want them to be found. Ever."

"You mean, like... To protect whatever they decided to keep into one of these things?" Harry interjected.

"No." Ben said, his voice hard as memories started coming back. "This is a facility built for 'Containment'. It's not to keep people out, but to keep something _inside_."

"Okay. Let's see if I got this straight." Flash said out loud, shaking his head. "These guys built secret facilities to trap some kind of... _Something_ on some unknown planets and then, what, offed themselves? Where did they go?!"

"That, I can't say. Not yet." Peter shook his head, before settling his gaze on the door again. "The answers may lay inside."

"Woahwoahwoah there, Pete!" Harry suddenly made himself known again as he raised his voice, his tone and cadence alarmed. "Are you _really_ sure we should do this?!"

"What do you mean, Harry? If we don't-"

"Peter, a race of super-beings whose mission was to _protect the whole galaxy_ decided to build facilities to keep trapped something they deemed dangerous! Okay, it's not what killed them all since they had to be alive to finish this, but it means that whatever it was they couldn't just get rid of it! _They_ couldn't! What makes you think we can?!" That seemed to give everyone some food for thought. Harry's reasoning made sense.

"W-Well, I doubt we're going to... I mean, just opening the door won't end the galaxy." Peter said, even if he wasn't really convinced himself of his own words.

"Also, we can't just go back saying 'we thought it would be unsafe for the galaxy'. I doubt the overseer would be content with that." Norman continued, sighing. It seemed like everyone was now giving his spineless son's words credit. And if he knew Benjamin Parker, particularly considering how he had acted during the briefing, this was the occasion he was waiting for to abort the mission. "Ben, this-"

"The mission continues." Ben cut off Norman, shocking him into silence. "Peter, start working on opening that door."

"Eh?" Peter was confused by his uncle's uncharacteristic curtness, but that stare, even if through an helmet, left no room for discussion. "Y-Yes!"

'_God damn it, Richard! Do you understand? Do you understand what all this means?!'_ On the outside, Ben was firm. Dead serious. Inside, he was panicking. His emotions were in a turmoil. For years he had wondered what that _thing_ could have been. What the hell could it have been doing there. Now, he had his answer.

He now knew that Richard and Ma-Ri Parker may have well and truly doomed them all. If the Shuu-Pa had had to build that facility specifically to contain it, a cave in wouldn't keep that thing trapped forever, even without external interference.

And if it **_did_** get out...

-I-

_Falcon 3_

"That last _shutosta_(1) could run." The Jaren were an insectoid looking race which originated in the Falcon system. Other than their green carapace which encompassed their whole bodies, another peculiarity in their physiology were their incredible jumping abilities, which allowed them to easily hunt a particular kind of primates that spent their whole lives on the tallest plants of Falcon 3 for their pelts. To the point of almost extinction.

This particular Jaren had decided to go and hunt near the abandoned Shuu-Pa settlement, in one of the Black Zones. The ones where particularly dangerous animals lived along the priced primates. Creatures which could eat them whole. But he was confident in his ability to avoid them. So it had been. As he climbed back into his spaceship and made his way to his cockpit, this Jaren was chirping with mirth. He had captured seven adult males. That would set him for life, if he found the right buyer.

"What the...?" Seven adult males who were being uncharacteristically noisy. The animals were pretty meek. When captured they usually fell back onto moping, not screeching. He made his way back to the cargo bay. "Hey! Pipe down!" His own shout was drowned in the cacophony of screeches.

The animals were jumping, running around, beating their paws against the transparent material the cages were made out of, screeching and bellowing like their lives depended on it. The Jaren then understood. They weren't angry. They were _scared_. He looked around, trying to find the culprit. _'What the hell could have spooked them so much?'_

That's when he felt something cold and gooey fall on his right shoulder, seeping through his clothes. He went to touch it. His fingers found themselves dirty with something sticky, dense and black. Like dried blood. He slowly raised his head upwards.

He dissolved in a cloud of blood and screams of agony as the mass of teeth, pain and darkness descended upon him.

_To be continued..._

_In the next episode!_

"Peter, get the hell away from there!"

'_This data...! Yes! This is exactly what I have been looking for!'_

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT _**THING?!**_"

"UNCLE BEN! _**NOOOOOO!**_"

**Glossary**

Shutosta: Swear word from the Jaren dialect. Roughly translates to 'motherfucker'.

_Author Note 1 - The story behind the story_

Well, here we are. My own take on the Spider-Man mythos. I have read some excellent fanfictions that gave their own spin to Peter Parker's story, but they still were the same cloth, you know? Peter gets bit, Osborn goes insane, Harry is his best friend, New York gets populated by superhumans, uncle Ben dies. The usual.

Sure, it gives a sense of familiarity, but then I thought, 'if I did something like that, I'd do something more. I'd do something _radical_. Like a cross-over, or... Or...' Then, it hit me. Watching the newest Star Trek movie for the twelfth time while reading may have had something to do with it.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the **Marvel in Space** universe, where your favorite superheroes meet space opera and sci-fi. Expect new origins, new dynamics, new twists a new mythos, and all around awesome space adventures. Your captain Meinos Kaen wishes you a good trip, starting with **The Legendary Spider-Man** himself, Peter Parker.

Stay tuned!

_Author Note 2 - Lookalikes_

For the characters' looks, I took inspiration from a bit of everywhere. May and Ben are identical to their Ultimate Marvel counterparts, and so do Harry and Norman Osborn. Peter, instead, is more like his 616 counterpart. Mainly because of the hair. I _hated_ Ultimate Peter's hair. Old Jonah is old 616 Jonah too. Can't beat that cigar smoking chain-whipping look.


	2. Episode 2

Hello, thar. Meinos Kaen here!

Welcome to the third chapter of The Legendary Spider-Man! For more info about the reason of my delay, and the future of this and all my other stories, please check my profile.

Meinos Kaen

_Previously, on The Legendary Spider-Man..._

"Everything that's happened here today must remain a secret."

"The ruins we found are compatible with other constructions of the Shuu-Pa race."

"He wanted someone-No. He wanted _me_ to continue his research."

"... Maybe I should join this mission, after all."

"Special Containment Facility 7."

"Whatever it was they couldn't just get rid of it! _They_ couldn't! What makes you think we can?!"

"The mission continues."

_Now!_

"Alright. This should do it." Peter said as he deciphered the commands on the console. After getting past the front door, they had come to another set, sealed shut, which would lead them underground. But first, they had to reboot the power lest they had to blow the door to kingdom come.

And after their previous considerations about the function of this structure, it wasn't something they felt comfortable doing. "There." With one last input, a low humming noise began to resound in the room, the walls themselves coming alive with light. Strong enough to light their surroundings but not harmful to their eyes, even without a visor or helmet.

"The power readings are rising steadily." Norman declared as the AAD(1) sent the data readings directly to his visor. "Should we proceed to open the door?"

"Peter, be ready but wait for my command." Ben ordered, motioning for the science team to get away from the door and for his direct subordinates to take a formation, half standing the other half kneeling in front of them, all keeping their weapons aimed at the door. "... Alright, do it."

"Here goes nothing." Peter said, using the input that would open the door, swallowing his nervousness. A chime, like an alarm, went loud in the room. He stared at the door which was coming live with light as well. _'I've been waiting for years for this opportunity. Continue my parents' task, clear my father's name.'_ A loud 'hiss' echoed in the room. The door was airtight._ 'And yet, why does every single cell in my body scream at me to just go back?'_

The door's two halves slowly began to slide to the right, a strong wind blowing over the team's bodies as it rushed to fill the space behind it. Peter scrunched his eyes. There was something-A silhouette. "Watch out!" He screamed, and to their merits not one of the Field Ops opened fire right there, even if he could see a couple of them jump on the spot.

The door opened completely, and something humanoid shaped fell to the ground, the support of the door no longer present to sustain it in an upright position. As it fell on its back to the ground with a dull thump, everyone's eyes trained on it.

It was a shriveled, mummy-like body of humanoid shape, covered in the discolored remains of a dark red suit which left exposed only its hands and head. The tint of its skin was a very pale azure, but he knew that it had once been a dark blue. Its hair were long black locks, and its ears were slightly pointed, just like its chin. Its eyes were empty sockets, but again Peter knew that they were supposed to be very similar in colors if not in shape to human ones, normally.

He knew all this because he recognized the species, even if it had disappeared from the galaxy for more than 700 years. All the time spent on his parents' research had made sure of it. "... It's a Shuu-Pa. Or, what's left of one." He declared, and the Field Ops finally relaxed, the members of the science team sighing in relief, with the exception of Norman who was observing the body with something akin to fascination.

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the body started crumbling down to dust, the airtight sealing that had preserved it for so long now gone. "Nobody touch it." Norman motioned for the biologist to come near and they knelt by it carefully. "This is one of the most important finds of galactic history. A Shuu-Pa body. No one has ever seen one in more than seven centuries."

"Well, then, congratulations are in order, dad. Peter." Harry piped up, causing both the scientists to turn in his direction. They found the young operative pointing at the open door with one outstretched arm. "I think you just hit the jackpot."

The group all turned in the direction of the door. As one, their eyes widened.

Behind the door there was a corridor, its walls made in equal part of metal and natural rock. Lined up against them were dozens of dead Shuu-Pa, of both sexes, in discolored suits either in shades of red or blue, all of them starting to feel the effect of the air and reacting to it accordingly. Peter swallowed.

"If these are the fiches, I _really_ don't want to see what you can cash them in for."

**Year 3025 AD**

The energetic crisis forced humanity to look at the stars for their future. In **2925**, twenty great space ships of the _Cradle_ Class left Earth. One hundred years later, three of those ships have settled on planets devoid of intelligent life.

Five now share their intended destination with alien cultures. Four have taken theirs with the strength of arms. Three others have become their own destinations, expanding into sprawling space stations. Of the other five, nothing is known, lost in the sprawling cosmos.

Among the second group of Cradles, the ship **Mida** has been turned into a space exploring vessel, tasked with mapping the galaxy and re-establish physical contact with the other ships. **Peter Parker** is a crew member of the Mida, bringing on his back the legacy of his

parents, whose research on the mysterious race of the Shuu-Pa brought on a tragedy.

After the discovery of Shuu-Pa vestiges on the planet Argos 6, Peter descends planetside with an exploration team, which includes his uncle Major Ben Parker, Chief Lab head Norman Osborn and his best friend and Soldier Trainee Harry Osborn, and proceed to enter an ancient abandoned facility...

**Marvel in Space**

**The Legendary Spider-Man**

_Episode 2 - With Great Legacies_

"Alright. Here's what we're going to do." After the initial shock wore down, the team had got their wits together. The science team had taken to isolating the 'original' body that had appeared before them, while the Field Ops radioed in to the Mida, signaling that they were going to need a biological containment unit. "We can't all go down. In case something goes wrong, the team left here will be tasked with calling in support from the Mida."

"So a few of us have to stay behind." Flash observed, shouldering his rifle. "Who is it going to be?"

"Me and Peter will have to go down, of course." Ben continued, weighting his options. He didn't want to risk leaving the back team exposed as well, in case something managed to get past him. So, two veterans and two rookies for side. "Harry, Flash, Gordon. You're coming with me. Thomas, you're going to be in charge of things here." One of the veteran operatives nodded in acknowledgement. The major then turned to his nephew. "Peter, what about the science team?"

"I'd suggest leaving mister Tanaka and mister Hollander behind. Their field of expertise is very specific, and it's suitable for tagging and securing the biological samples we have already discovered." Peter shot back immediately after. He had been thinking about it for a while now, it seemed. "Mister Osborn is an expert in various fields of knowledge. Since we don't know what we'll need to know..."

"Better to keep our options as wide as possible." Norman finished, nodding in appreciation. "Should we head down now?"

"First, we have to suit you and Peter up. A visor isn't going to cut it anymore, if the place has been sealed air-tight for seven centuries." He turned to the younger Osborn in the room. "Harry, lead them to the Skip and give them two full body suits."

"Yes, sir." As Harry lead his two charges -a bit uneasily in regards to his father- back to the Skip, Ben focused on the corridor opening in front of them. There were a few differences between this one and the one on Falcon 3.

This one seemed more... Complete, for lack of a better word. The complex Richard had discovered was less aesthetically pleasant, the tunnel was mostly comprised of natural rock. There was less metal. Also, it lacked the string of centuries old bodies.

Which presented another oddity. He had seen his fair share of dead bodies. Most people tended to forget, but he wasn't always on the Mida. He had been a real soldier, once. The humans helped the Gunri in their civil war and the blood shed for Helios rightfully made the planet as much their home as it was the alien race's. They found true acceptance in the shared struggles.

Point was, none of the bodies in front of him looked like they had died of a violent death. The first body had been leaning against the door, that's why it fell on its back. All the others were either in a similar standing position or sitting on the ground. Hunched over hugging their knees, their head held low.

He couldn't tell exactly what they had died of, but one thing he could say for sure. It wasn't violence.

No, from what he could read from those bodies' final resting positions... It was like they had accepted death, resigned to it and waited for its embrace.

-I-

"Damn. This thing is... Ew!"

"Smells stuffy, huh? Happens with second hand suits." Harry snickered at Peter's discomfort as he and the veteran named Gordon followed the young scientist and Norman, being the last couple of the marching column that started with Flash and Ben. They had started their descent ten minutes before, and their surroundings had become more metallic the more they descended. "But it also means that the air filters work."

"Good. I won't take any chances." Ben commented, leading the group with Flash by his side, guns trained and ready to shoot.

"We're advancing at a snail's pace." Norman scoffed, expressing his distaste for their pace. "What exactly has you this much on edge?"

"This structure has several levels. Just because on the first there wasn't anything dangerous, it doesn't mean things will stay like that." Ben answered. "... There's another door."

The long corridor was finally over. It had taken them the better of five minutes to walk it in its entirety, and the rock had completely left place to metal. The door at its end was the twin of the first one they had opened. Again, Ben made his three subordinates take firing positions while Peter approached the door, finding a pad on its right.

"Damn, we're stuck. This needs a password." Peter declared as he observed the ideograms on the buttons of the pad. "Without hints, it could take weeks."

"And we can't blow it to kingdom come, or this whole thing may come crashing down on us." Flash added with a grunt, remembering his commander's experience with the last of those structures the Mida had discovered. "What now?"

"We have to contact the Mida. Make them ship down a cutting laser." Norman answered, earning a nod from Peter. Still, it'd take hours.

"Why don't you just check the buttons to see how worn down they are?" Harry's voice suddenly broke through the silence, causing everyone to turn in his direction. "You know... The most worn down ones are most probably the ones used in the password. They probably had to open this door many times, right?"

"... Harry, you're a genius." Peter held his AAD with a grin as it started analyzing the pad, while Norman stared at his son and gave him a nod of approval. Peter knew that Harry was probably beaming under the helmet. The device identified four buttons in a similar high state of usage. "Four buttons." He then, going with instinct as he found one green and one red button, pressed the first one. The led displayed four horizontal lines side by side. "And four symbols to punch in! We're lucky!"

"Try the combinations that make up a meaningful word first." Norman instructed, and Peter obliged as Ben and his direct subordinates took firing positions again. A few seconds later, the door slid open. Gordon whistled out.

"Will you look at that." As Peter got up and laid eyes on the scenery behind the now open door, he found himself reigning in a similar reaction. "I guess the one upstairs isn't the only entrance."

"Yeah. I doubt they could have squeezed _that_ through the doorway." Flash commented, referring to the spaceship that laid in the middle of what Peter identified as a hangar.

The spacecraft laid in the middle of the huge space on a heightened platform, facing away from a huge tunnel that surely led to another entrance far away from their current position. It shape was angular and sharp, four times the size of their Skip, in two different shades of blue.

The rest of the huge space was filled with boxes of cargo and machinery for handling said boxes. A huge metallic door laid on the far side, and smaller ones littered the sides other than the one with the exit tunnel. A ramp was going to be their way down to the floor, and at their same height, on the wall on their right, an observation deck stood out of the white and grey that dominated the room.

"Think it's still functioning?" Flash asked, excitement clear in his voice. Peter found it strange. He had never heard that kind of tone coming from the blonde in all the years he had known him.

"At this point? Wouldn't surprise me." Ben commented. "Let's go down."

-I-

"Hey, Harry."

"Hmm?" The Ground Op didn't tear his eyes away from his surroundings, as he and Gordon were guarding Peter as he worked on the controls of the lift they had found on the side with the observation deck. He had said that he felt confident in trying and get some schematics of the structure out of them.

"What's with Flash and the spaceship?" As Peter mentioned his fellow trainee, Harry glanced in the direction of the other group, who were inspecting the spacecraft. Flash seemed uncharacteristically jumpy and eager to assist. "I've never seen him act like this. Well, I'm not exactly a friend of his, but-"

"He's a spacecrafts geek." Peter almost dropped his device at that, and Harry snorted in laughter at his senior's words. "He's been dead-set on making it into the Wings since day one. Hasn't lost an orientation meeting, and he can name all the names and specs of all spaceships known to mankind. That's the first Shuu-Pa spaceship ever recovered and he's one of the first people to lay eyes on it."

"And he had the balls to bully _me_?!" Harry sighed, shaking his head.

"To tell the truth, the two things are correlated, Pete." Harry said, remembering the time he confronted Flash about his treatment of Peter. After knowing him as a trainee, he understood that the blonde wasn't on the bully train just to follow the 'make the social pariah miserable' trend. After all, he had always left Harry alone. No, for Flash it was personal. "And no, I can't tell you more. He's grown out of it, but I think you should ask him yourself."

"Fat chance of that happening anytime soon." Peter shot back, just as he finally managed to crack into the database. "Call uncle Ben and the others. I'm in."

"On it. Ah, by the way, Pete..." Harry had been curious about something ever since they opened that second door. "Just out of curiosity, what did the password mean?"

"In english, you mean? Well..." Pete raised himself from his knelt position. "It had two meanings, in two different spectrums of light. In one it means _web_." He brushed off his knees. "In the other, it means _**bond**_."

-I-

"So, I've gotten the schematics of the whole structure. They're much more precise than any screenings we've made from the Mida."

"Obviously." Norman commented as the young Peter shared the recently downloaded information with everyone. His software was truly miraculous. It translated the Shuu-Pa's programming code into the human one precisely and with the utmost speed. "Seems we're at the level denominated Space Dock."

"Kind of in your face, ain't it?" Flash said. No one laughed. "Ehm, I mean... With the spaceship and all..."

"Underneath we have four more levels. Named: Storage, Living Quarters, Experimenting, and... Shrine?" Young Peter continued, his voice denoting a certain interest in the Shrine level. Norman was far more interested in the Experimenting one. "That's weird. Shuu-Pa didn't have a religion... Or if they did, they never shared their beliefs with other races, I guess."

"Should we call for more people?" Gordon asked, earning a shaken head from the older Parker.

"No. The purpose of this mission is to scout ahead before deploying more people. We have to make sure it's safe before that." Norman nodded in agreement, even if it was for another reason. Too many people would risk contaminating any specimens they could come across before he had secured them.

"... I'd say we start by checking this 'Shrine'. I bet whatever they were containing in this facility is down there." Harry suggested, hoisting his rifle over his shoulder. "It _is_ the deepest level, after all. That's where I would put something I didn't want the world to see ever again."

"A sound reasoning." Norman added. Harry was surprising him with his insights. Nowhere near the level of intelligence one would expect from the fruit of his loins, of course, but at least he wasn't the ignorant meathead he believed him to grow up into. Still, this 'Shrine' and whatever it contained weren't his most pressing concern. The Experimenting level... It probably meant labs. Data. Specimens. A treasure trove for his research, probably.

"Well, then we'll have to head down to Experimenting first, then. The lift doesn't reach that last level." Seemed like fate was on his side. He allowed himself a small smile. "According to the schematics, the only access to the Shrine is from the level above."

"We have our destination, then." Ben finalized the order, and Norman, for once in his life, found himself shivering in anticipation. For a biologist and geneticist like him, entering a vault of knowledge of the most evolutionally advanced race that had ever scoured the known galaxy was like the prospect of rare candy for a pudgy overweight brat. "Gordon, stay behind. Guard our exit."

-I-

Ben was fought. On one hand, he was glad that so far they had found nothing like what he had seen on Falcon 3. And yet, he felt that the more they postponed a meeting with danger, the bigger it would be when they finally found some.

The Experimenting Level was full of now operative machinery and lab rooms, with a large open space in the middle of it. At its end, they could see an arc and stairs leading to the lowest level: the Shrine. "... There it is."

"Finally." Peter swallowed as he observed the flight of stairs. "Maybe we'll find some answers."

"Weird." Flash commented as he tried to contact the rest of the team. "My Comm-device doesn't work."

"Mine neither." Harry confirmed for Flash. "Maybe there's some kind of metallic barrier inbetween the two floors? Blocking the signal?"

"Just in case, then, I think it'd be safer if we didn't _all_ go to the lower level." Norman commented. "Wouldn't be safe to take chances to have our exit be cut off."

"... True." _'Also, I bet you want to check the labs. Don't you, Norman?'_ Ben acquiesced. He didn't feel happy with the decision, but it couldn't be helped. The most expert in the Shuu-Pa civilization would have to go further. And Peter, much to his chagrin, would be safer shielded by his two friends than by him. "Harry, Flash. Accompany Peter. Be careful down there. Harry, you're in charge."

"Yes, sir." Harry answered, and motioned to Flash to follow him to the stairs. Peter and Ben exchanged a nod with his uncle before following the two Ground Operatives.

-I-

"... God almighty in heaven." Peter let out as he laid eyes on the scenery that presented itself to him. Flash and Harry were silent, but he guessed they had been shocked into silence. The chamber was too different, and too majestic.

As highly technological as the rest of the complex, the room nonetheless projected a very different feel. It had a very different purpose, Peter theorized. In hi-tech braziers unknown materials burned blue after centuries, flanked by colorful murals which adorned every square inch of the corridor's walls on the way to the altar at the opposite end from the three young men's position. "This... Is this a place of worship?"

"... If it is, they sure had some weird deities." Flash added with a glance to the altar, taking point and leading the way, Peter and Harry right behind him. The young Osborn's eyes darted slowly over their surroundings, taking in the drawings.

"... These murals are creepy." He offered. He couldn't follow exactly the story. The drawings were too chaotic. He could distinguish bodies and blood and scenes of fighting, though.

"And this altar's weird." Flash continued as he stopped in front of the altar, the corridor opening in a circular room. A finely engraved metallic base supported a statue in shades of blue and dark red. "This looks like a Shuu-Pa, but-"

"Shuu-Pa didn't have six arms." Peter confirmed Flash's suspicions as he observed the crouched statue, trying to understand-hot. "What-!" His chest had suddenly become unbearably hot. _'My chest? No!'_

"What the hell?!" Harry shouted as Peter suddenly broke the seal on his suit. The oxygen levels were good enough, but still-then he noticed the red light. "Peter, what's wrong?!"

_'My mother's necklace.'_ Peter didn't answer. He finished removing his helmet and got out of the tactical suit, ending back in his skin tight standard suit. Hanging from his neck, the artifact shone strong with crimson light. He slowly gathered it with his hands, finding it warm to the touch.

"Hey! This thing's doing something!" Flash bellowed. The altar was trembling, a single spot on its surface shining with dark blue light."Parker, what's going on?! And-" Flash turned around, taking in Peter's situation. "You too?!"

"Peter!" Harry said, shaking his friend. But Peter was miles away.

Something was grabbing at the base of his neck. Something invisible, but warm. Prodding him, pushing him, asking something of him.

He didn't notice when he ripped the necklace off his neck, nor that he had made its sharp injection point appear. "Peter, what are you-Woah!" The ground under their feet started to move and shift.

"Hey! The altar's going Richter!" Flash shouted as the shaking of the altar increased its trembling to the point of being noisy. "Holy crap!" The walls and ceiling folded on themselves and disappeared into the ground, revealing nothing but darkness. The braziers turned to red, illuminating the endless expanse of an underground cave.

"Peter, get the hell away from there! We have to get back!" Harry pulled on his friend's arms, finding him rooted on the spot. "Snap out of it! We have to-! PETER!"

"SON OF A BITCH!" The taller of the two soldier trainees let out as Peter stabbed his chest with the necklace and a bright blue flash left the altar in a straight line and connected with the young scientist, burning his clothes immediately surrounding the artifact.

-I-

He was floating. It wasn't a new sensation for Peter, living on a space-ship. But unlike the sterile and technological environment of his home, this vacuum where he floated was filled with a natural warmth. Not the warmth of a star, but that of a living being. Of soft azure skin, of a loving embrace, of slender arms which wrapped around his midsection. Silky hair the color of blood filled his nostrils with the scent of flowers unknown to him.

"I got you." She did. And now he never wanted her to let go.

-I-

"Wah!" Harry averted his eyes as Peter's body lit up with violet light, blinding him for a few seconds even with his helmet on. When he regained his sight, Peter was on his back, staring wide eyed at the ceiling. "Peter! Are you okay?!"

"... What the hell happened?" The young scientist asked as, dazed, he brought himself to a sitting position, Harry immediately by his side.

"What happened?! You started going crazy and stabbed yourself in the chest with your necklace! _That's_ what happened!" Flash's words caused Peter to gasp and look at his exposed chest.

"What?!" In place of an injury or his protruding necklace, Peter found a red and blue crystal protuberance growing from the middle of his chest. With a body in the shape of a full eight with four legs for side, half pointing down and half pointing up. "... Harry, a warning. I'm about to freak out."

"Join the club. I'm the one who saw you act crazy!" Harry groaned. He grabbed onto Peter's arm and pulled him to his feet. "We have to get you away from here. And-" The loud echo of an explosion reached the chamber from the upper floor. "... Christ! What now?!"

"Uncle Ben?!"

-A few minutes earlier-

"... This is wondrous." Norman whispered as he continued to work on the terminal, proceeding smoothly. His eyes observed line after line of precious information. "This was a biology lab."

"Biology? What were they studying?" Ben asked, not removing his eyes from their surroundings.

"Probably themselves." Norman could feel the confusion in the man guarding him. He decided to enlighten him. "The most widespread theory about the Shuu-Pa's tremendous superiority as a species is that they experimented on their race's genetical code."

"So, they artificially turned themselves into a race of superhumans and started policing the galaxy?" Ben commented, earning a slight nod from Norman. "Makes you wonder their reasons, though."

"Reasons are unimportant." Norman stated, finishing with the last line of the current file and finding a strongly encrypted one. He set his device to work. In a few seconds, the file was wide open. Line after line of text started pouring in front of Norman's eyes and downloaded into his device. The scientist's eyes widened. _'This data...! Yes! This is exactly what I have been looking for! With this-!'_

"Norman! What the hell did you do?!" Ben shouted as a loud alarm went off. The scientist bit back a curse, her lips a thin line as he finished downloading the file and removed the device. "We've got to go!"

"I know." Frowning, Norman followed Ben out of the room and into the open space, heading for the stairs to protect the retreat of their younger counterparts. Only to have to stop mid-way.

Part of the floor had disappeared, and something started to lift out of it. Humanoid in shape, it was though much bigger, standing at 8-feet tall and completely made out of dark blue metal. The head was a cylinder, with a grey line in the place of the eyes which suddenly flashed red. The robotic creation raised his right arm and pointed it at the two humans, his metallic forearm morphing into a charging plasma gun. "DODGE, NORMAN!"

-Now-

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT_**THING?!**_"

"What does it look like?! A freaking robot!" Harry clarified for Flash as they reached the upper level again. The open space area was littered with two scorch marks, the metal melted in places. Ben narrowly avoided a third blast by jumping out of the way. A few meters behind him, Norman laid sprawled out on the floor. "Dad!"

"Uncle Ben!" Peter went to move to his uncle's help, but Harry stopped him with one arm.

"Peter, no! You'd only get in the way!" The copper-haired soldier admonished his friend. He was worried like hell about his father too, but exactly because of that they couldn't run in like that. "Sir! Your orders!"

"Harry, support me! Flash, take Peter and Norman _and get them the hell out of here!_" Ben focused briefly on Peter's state of undress, too busy fighting for his life.

"Yes, sir!" Harry swallowed and ran in, gun blazing with a volley of bullets. They impacted the armor of the robot and dented it, but didn't go through. _'Resistant armor.'_ "Sir, no damage from normal ammo!"

"Don't switch to Solar yet! Look for weak points!" Saying this, Ben unleashed a volley of bullets towards the head of the construct, which was aiming at Harry. A second before the bullets hit it, the cylinder descended into the main chassis. _'Found one. But he guards it well!'_

"Come on, Parker!" Flash grabbed Peter roughly by the shoulder and pulled him away, running towards Norman. "I'm going to need your help with the Lab Head!"

"O-Okay!" The young scientist swallowed, bringing a hand to his face. He always grabbed on his glasses when he was nervous... Only to find none. He had lost them somewhere. _'What...? But I can see perfectly!'_

"Sir, his other arm!" Somewhat compensating for the number of enemies, the robot started charging twin shots in his arms. Harry and Ben dodged again, only for the Major to realized with dread that it hadn't been aiming at him. "PETER!"

"AAAH!"

"UGH!" Flash and Peter weren't hit dead on, but the explosion of the plasma round caught them flat-footed, charring both of them and sending them skidding to and over the ground. "Aaack..." Peter felt nauseous, his vision swimming. "G-Got to... Get..."

'**Let me join you.'** The nausea disappeared, but it was replaced with confusion, which added to the fact that his body was still stunned. Peter felt a strange sensation. Like a presence, right under his skin, tied to an unfamiliar voice echoing in his surroundings.

'_W-What? What is this?'_

'**Let me join you! Hurry!'**

'_Join me? What-Who is this?!'_ Confusion and dazing didn't allow Peter to notice that the robot was shrugging off the attacks of Ben and Harry, and charging for another shot aimed right at him.

"PETER! GET UP!" Harry shouted, his gut wrenching and turning. He could already have lost his father. He couldn't lose his best friend too.

"PETER!" Ben had already lost his brother. He wouldn't lose his nephew too.

The robot shot.

The round never reached its target.

"... Huh?" The heat reached Peter just as his body recovered. His vision became clear again. He looked up.

His uncle was there.

Shielding him with his body. Their eyes met. Peter saw relief. Ben exhaled.

Then he fell to the ground in front of Peter, flames still burning the major's body and the remains of his environmental suit. "UNCLE BEN! _**NOOOOOO!**_"

-I-

"Shit..." Harry cursed, his arms shaking in fear and rage. Now unrestrained. "SHIIIIIT!" He dodged the volley aimed at himself. _'Fucking monster! Come on, Harry! Think! He's got to have a weak point! Somewhere where the armour-!'_

-I-

"Nononono, uncle Ben! Uncle Ben, please! _Please don't die! _Not you too!" Peter pledged, shocked, stunned, unaware where to even begin to help his uncle. _'I have to get him to a medic! I have to get him to aunt May! I-'_

'**Peter, please! Let me join you!'** The voice was back again.

'_Not-Who are you?! What do you want?!'_

-I-

"Come on, you asshole... Come on!" Harry stopped dodging. Instead, he held his ground and aimed, his ammo having switched to the powerful Solar kind. He was waiting for his opportunity. Waiting for the only time when the robot would shed his armor. "There! You like to keep me waiting, don't you?!" When he started to charge up for a shot. Harry pulled the trigger. "DIE!"

-I-

'**I want to help you, Peter! Let me join you! Let me help you save them!'** Peter was a rational person. Usually, he would never, ever trust a random voice suddenly appearing in his head.

But right now he wasn't rational anymore. Right now he was desperate for any kind of help anyone could provide. _'How?! How do I let you?!'_

'**You just have to want it, Peter...'**

'_I do! I do want it!'_ Peter thought, his fists trembling and his eyelids hurting, so hard they were serrated. "JOIN ME! LET ME SAVE MY UNCLE!" His chest started shining with crimson light.

-I-

"AAACK!" His hit had struck true. The robot's arm blew up, generating an explosion that hurled him across the room and slammed him against the wall, knocking his head against the inside of his helmet. _'N-No. Got to... Stay... Conscious... Huh?'_ As his vision started to fade, Harry saw someone step into his field of vision.

A silhouette clad in an unfamiliar uniform. A one piece nonetheless divided into different parts. Two crimson boots, delimitated at knee-height by a white outline which left space to a body part that went up, over legs and hips, only to stop at the shoulders, where it again left space to white and then to red. The same happened at the height of the elbow, separating the suit into gloves. A large white spider-motif decorated the back of the silhouette. He caught the outfit rippling and moving upward, as it finished covering a head of full brown hair.

"... Peter?" Harry murmured before passing out.

-I-

"... This..." What Harry couldn't have seen was the front of the suit. The red descended deeper, right to mid-chest, right below a smaller spider-motif. The head part of the suit had two big white, insect-like lenses which let Peter observe himself. But what really shocked him was the feeling.

His body had never felt so strong. He felt a surge of power coming from within that he could scarcely believe he was successfully containing. He gripped his fists and then laid eyes on the recovering form of the robot.

He rushed it.

The robot noticed, and tried to swing his arm at the new enemy, but found himself not in the same place anymore. With a somersault, Peter had suddenly landed on the robot's shoulders. Before the head could retract into the chassis... "Oh, no you _don't!_" Peter grabbed onto the cylinder with both hands. "NrrrrrraAAAAAH!" And ripped it off from the body in a shower of sparkles and cooling oil. "You stupid piece of-" With another somersault, Peter dodged another arm-swing, grabbing onto the appendage as he did. "_CRAP!_" Using it as a pivot, he successfully slammed the robot into the ground.

"Harming my uncle?! Harming my friends?!" Putting one foot on the main body, Peter pulled. He threw the freshly ripped off arm against a far wall, leaving an indent into it. "Not again!" He then proceeded to tore into the construct with a fury of punches and kicks, ripping off pieces of armor and cables as they presented themselves up for grabs, oil showering him from head to toe like blood from a corpse. "**NEVER AGAIN!**"

In a couple minutes, nothing was left of the robot but random pieces. Peter stood, panting, his hands holding onto cables as the robot's activities died down, for good. He let go and immediately dove for Ben's body, making a run for the elevator.

-I-

Gordon was bored. He understood the importance of watching their backs, but leaving him alone to guard an elevator shaft? That was a waste of man-power, if they asked him. He should be down there with the others, helping them explore. He should-

The elevator's door was kicked open from the inside. Gordon almost opened fire. How had he missed the elevator working?

Except that it wasn't. "Please, help me!" A figure clad in a full-body suit was hanging from the inner walls of the ceiling, a badly injured man strapped over his back. He flung inside the room and gently leaned him on the ground. "We have to get him to a doctor!"

"M-Major Parker?!" The soldier gasped, kneeling down by his superior. He opened his comm-link. "This Gordon! Major Parker has been badly injured!"

"The others are injured too! I'll brink them right up!" With a jump, Peter dove into the darkness of the elevator shaft. At the moment, he wasn't questioning his power. He didn't have time to think about how he had the strength to rip open a robot and an elevator, climbing the shaft by leaps and bounds, sticking to surfaces.

All that was for later. Now, he could only hope that he hadn't been too late to save his uncle. And hope Harry and the others were also well.

_To be continued..._

_In the next episode!_

"Peter, I'm sorry. Your uncle is..."

"What did you do to yourself?!"

"Who are you? What do you want from me?"

'**I don't know who I am.'**

**Glossary**

AAD: Ambient Analysis Device


End file.
